The Tung Oil Finish

OH MY- I WROTE THIS A COUPLE MONTHS AGO!!
*********************************************************

After we finished staining the newly installed floors, it was time to apply a finish.  Before we stained the floors, we intended to simply use polyurethane to protect the floors, as this was the finish we used on the stair treads.  The difference between finishing the stairs and the floors was that when we finished the floors we were not living in the house, and therefore did not have to contend with the VOCs and fumes from the stain & polyurethane.  Fast forward 2 years.  When we stained the floors a few weeks ago, we had to take up shelter for entire weekend with family in order not to breath in the toxic fumes.  Though this was a great weekend with family, it was a bit inconvenient to not be able to be home.

After investigating VOC options for wood finishing we discovered Linseed Oil & Tung Oil.  Originally we purchased Tried and True Linseed Oil & Beeswax finish.  Though not a common finish, we loved that it was VOC free.  Unfortunately, upon receiving the Linseed Oil and reading the packaging, we found that it was not recommended for use on floors.  We were willing to give it a try, we found that Pure Tung Oil was a much more common VOC free finish.  The Laird found Pure Tung Oil through The Real Milkpaint Company.  Their website was very informative and convinced us that this was the route we would take to finish our floors.

With tung oil, it is important to use a solvent to dilute the oil.  Common solvents include mineral spirits and turpentine- the only problem is that they both contain VOCs and have toxic fumes.  The Real Milkpaint Company offers a Citrus Solvent which is 100% natural citrus oils from oranges and citrus fruit peels- and no VOCs!  Perfect, we found our zero VOCs floor finishing solution.  We ordered a gallon of Citrus Solvent and a gallon of Pure Tung Oil.

After the stain had finished, we noticed areas where the stain had pooled and dried thicker on the surface of the wood.  We did wipe areas of excess stain clean during the drying process, but missed a number of spots.  And these spots looked terrible because they were shiny rather than the matte appearance of dry stain.

To Be Continued!